Chapter 1099: Peak of the Cloud Sea, Ceng Niu

Wang Lin walked slowly through the jungle, small snakes occasionally slithering in the muddy ground beneath his feet, and he even saw fist-sized toads leaping in the muddy water, seemingly enjoying the showering rain.

Having just arrived in the Cloud Sea, Wang Lin was unfamiliar with everything. He didn't know where he was. Stepping through the mud, Wang Lin gradually fell into contemplation as he walked.

He was on this journey to evade Tuo Sen, but with Tuo Sen's cultivation, he could break through the two-world barrier. At that point, it seemed there would be no place for him to hide in this celestial Star Domain.

"Instead of constantly fleeing, it's better to quickly establish a foothold in this Cloud Sea. After my main body passes through the Three Deficiencies and Seven Tribulations, then I can ponder the path ahead…" Wang Lin looked at his legs from the waist down, a look of worry on his face.

"Most importantly, I need to truly integrate among the Cultivators of this Cloud Sea Star Domain as a person from the Cloud Sea…" Wang Lin looked up at the falling rain, just as the snow of the Alliance could merge with the rain of the Cloud Sea, that was what he intended to do.

As he walked, his stature gradually became shorter, his hair slowly turned black, and his appearance also underwent subtle changes. He looked more ordinary, like a down-and-out scholar, gradually walking out of the jungle in the rain.

The rainy season on Moruo Continent often lasted for several months without stopping, until the earth was completely soaked, until one felt a tingling ache in their bones, and even their whole body subtly exuded a rusty smell, only then would the rain cease.

Whether Cultivators or Mortals on Moruo, they had long grown accustomed to this continuous rain. Most Cultivators chose to go into secluded cultivation during the rainy season, or they would leave Moruo Continent to hunt Vicious Beasts in the Star Domain. However, during this year's rainy season, Guiyuan Sect, the only cultivation School on Moruo Continent, saw almost all of its Disciples brave the rain, transforming into long rainbows, and speeding towards the northern part of Moruo Continent.

The long rainbow pierced through the sky, as if parting a path in the rain. If one looked up from the ground, they would naturally see that magnificent sight, like a meteor.

As for Mortals, they would often enjoy the warmth inside their homes by the hearth when the rainy season arrived, occasionally gazing at the misty rain outside the window, a simple yet cozy scene.

Beishui Village, as its name suggests, is located less than a thousand li outside the Binggu Jungle in the northern part of Moruo Continent. The people in the village often live by farming, and there are also hunter teams formed by villagers who hunt around the Binggu Jungle.

The rainy season is also when water toads appear. For the Mortals of Moruo Continent, water toads are an extremely delicious food, often expensive in large cities, but still in short supply.

During every rainy season, the villagers of Beishui Village would organize experienced individuals to go outside the Binggu Jungle to catch water toads. Over several months of the rainy season, generally, these villagers would go back and forth four or five times. Each time they returned, they would carry large sacks, all filled with live water toads.

Similarly, when these villagers who had caught water toads returned to the village, their families would be wearing coir raincoats, and some children would even follow behind, excitedly watching their fathers, elder brothers, uncles, or grandfathers bring back sacks of water toads. Whenever this happened, these children would be overjoyed.

Only this time, among the villagers returning to Beishui Village from the Binggu Jungle, besides bringing back sacks of water toads, they also brought back a person. This was a seemingly ordinary young man, slightly thin, who seemed unable to withstand the cold in the rain. He wore a coir raincoat given by the villagers, standing silently, with a very strange expression in his eyes, as if感慨 (feeling emotional), as if recalling, quietly looking at the village in the rain before him.

"Brother Ceng, this is our Beishui Village. You can stay here for a while, and when the rainy season passes and the mountain road is clear, you can follow it to Chun City," said a burly man in a coir raincoat, handing his sack to someone nearby and smiling at Wang Lin.

Wang Lin smiled and cupped his fists in thanks.

The burly man waved his hand and laughed, "I haven't been to a private school and don't understand manners, but since we met on the road, we're friends. Brother Ceng, don't be shy. The rain is heavy, hurry inside. Wife, tidy up the back room and let Brother Ceng stay there."

A woman in a coir raincoat beside the burly man glanced at Wang Lin, a smile also appearing on her face. Without asking her husband about the young man's origins, she quickly walked a few steps home, tidied up the back room, and brought out clean bedding.

The burly man had a lot of prestige in the village. That night, many neighbors came to his house, and amidst the lively atmosphere, they naturally started drinking. Wang Lin sat to the side, holding a wine bowl, drinking and smiling as he watched these Mortals, his heart filled with peace and harmony.

After three rounds of drinks, the men's laughter was boisterous. One middle-aged man in his forties stood up, holding his wine bowl, and came before Wang Lin, saying with a simple smile, "Brother Ceng, our third son said that if it weren't for you, he wouldn't have survived after being bitten by that venomous snake. This life-saving kindness, this old man will never forget!" He then drank the entire bowl of wine in one gulp.

Wang Lin smiled, picked up the wine jar on the table that hadn't yet been poured into a bowl, put it to his mouth, and took a large swig. Wiping his mouth with his left hand, he laughed, "This wine isn't strong enough."

The eyes of the surrounding men lit up, and they cheered in unison. The host, the burly man who had let Wang Lin stay in the back room, laughed, "Wife, go get the three jars of Beishui Wine that the old man left behind, so Brother Ceng knows that our Beishui Village's wine can be strong!"

The burly man's wife shook her head with a smile and went to the inner room. Two of his nephews and nieces followed her, and soon after, they brought out three jars of wine and placed them to the side.

Time thus slowly passed, and a month flashed by. Although the rainy season had not yet ended, the rain had lessened considerably. There was even a short period each day when the sky would briefly clear, and the rain would stop.

In this village, Wang Lin was very popular. Everyone seemed to have accepted this usually quiet but jovial neighbor when drinking, and they had also accepted his identity as a physician. Many elders in the village, as well as villagers with chronic illnesses, all witnessed Wang Lin's medical skills.

They also accepted the exquisite wood carvings, knowing Wang Lin's identity as a carpenter in addition to being a physician.

If time could continue to flow like this, forgetting the crisis of Tuo Sen, forgetting the life and death in cultivation, forgetting the schemes and deceptions in life, then such a life would be something Wang Lin greatly anticipated.

He liked this tranquility, he liked the harmonious atmosphere of this village. However, Wang Lin understood that such a life was like the brief clear sky during the rainy season, and would soon disappear.

The Cultivators of Guiyuan Sect successively arrived in the northern part of Moruo Continent. After repeated searches, they selected Mortals with Aptitude, including both youths and middle-aged individuals. As for white-haired elders, they also searched for them, but none possessed Aptitude; even if they did, at such an advanced age, they would clearly yield no results until their death.

On this day, Cultivators also arrived at Beishui Village. This Cultivator appeared to be less than twenty years old, yet his cultivation had already reached Foundation Establishment. At his age and with such cultivation, he was enough to become a prodigy among the younger generation.

This Cultivator's demeanor was cold. Upon arriving at Beishui Village, he immediately made all the villagers tremble in fear, coming out of their rooms together and shivering in the rain. Mortals living on Moruo Continent were not unaware of Cultivators, and they understood that if this Cultivator were to get angry, even slaughtering all of them would only be a matter of moments.

Zhao Yu frowned, looking at all the Mortals in the small village before him. The rainwater was repelled three inches above him, keeping his clothes consistently clean.

However, the villagers in front of him were in the rain, allowing the rainwater to drench their clothes, clinging to their bodies and emitting a bone-chilling cold. The adults were somewhat better, but the children were trembling severely, tightly hugging their parents beside them.

They had been standing there for almost an incense stick's time, but the Cultivator in front had remained silent.

"Immortal… Immortal, the rain is cold, and the children are weak; I'm afraid they can't endure it, perhaps…" The burly man who had taken Wang Lin in stammered, his little daughter beside him already pale from the cold.

But before he could finish, Zhao Yu's eyes flashed with a cold light, making the burly man swallow his words.

With a cold snort, Zhao Yu said icily, "If you can't even withstand a little cold rain, how can you become a Cultivator?" His cold snort even contained a trace of cultivation, causing the villagers in front to feel as if thunder echoed in their ears, their faces turning pale.

Wang Lin stood in the crowd, his expression darkening. He stepped out from the crowd and walked towards Zhao Yu.

Zhao Yu was startled and was about to reprimand him, but his eyes immediately showed confusion. His gaze shifted from Wang Lin to the villagers, and he said calmly, "You can all go back."

The villagers were stunned for a moment, but soon they each hugged their children and quickly returned to their rooms. They did not notice that as they dispersed, Wang Lin casually waved his right hand, and an invisible warm current permeated and entered each villager's body, expelling all the cold from within them.

In the rainy night, Wang Lin walked in front, with Zhao Yu following behind, his expression no longer confused, but subtly as if he had lost his soul.

Guiyuan Sect's operation lasted for nearly a month, bringing a total of thirty-one Mortals from the entire northern Moruo, seventeen of whom were youths, and the rest young adults. These individuals were all sent to Guiyuan Sect's mountain gate in eastern Moruo, settling down in the basin of the ring-shaped mountain range.

Guiyuan Sect's current four Elders attached great importance to these thirty-one individuals, dispersing them and taking them in as Disciples. Among the seven chosen by Lü Yanfei, the only female of the four Elders, one person was named Ceng Niu, from Beishui Village.